Design Notes

Take on the Dragon Clan with new animated gear!

As we prepare for the beginning of the 13th Lord of Chaos finale, Galanoth needs your help taking down the deadly dragons of the Razorclaw Clan! With the Summer of Chaos starting next week, this is the perfect time to train: rank up your favorite classes and save up gold to buy better enhancements. You're going to want to be stronger and faster than ever before, because once the full force of Chaos is unleashed... no one is safe!

Let your shadows consume the dragon!

Starting tonight, talk to Galanoth in the Lair map (/join lair) to help the Order of DragonSlayers take down a dangerous new threat to the people of Greenguard: the Razorclaw dragon clan and their leader, the Cryptbreaker!

Complete the "Defeat the Dragon Thief" quest to stock up the merge items you'll need to get the Viridian Dragonbreaker gear from the Razorclaw Merge Shop! Then return each day to complete the 2 daily quests for extra gold and XP! (One Legend-only daily, one daily for all players)

Animated Item Beta Testing Starts Tonight!

In the past, animations have always been tied to the Class you had equipped. After tonight, that won't be true anymore! We need everyone's help to test our new animated item system (and how often we want the animations to appear), so later tonight, talk to Yara in Battleon to get your testing gear!

Meteor PUNCH!

Who will see the animations?

Earlier this week, we said that the animations would only appear to the item owner. But it looks like we should be able to make the animations appear to EVERYONE!

That is really cool.

We are going to need a way for people to turn off item animations if they do not want to see them.

We are going to need your help adjusting how often the animations appear. (Right now, they are going to go off a little more often than a rank 10 passive, but we will change that if needed)

When you go around using the animated items, please keep track of:

how many times in an hour you see the animation from YOUR weapon

how many times in an hour you see animations from OTHER players' gear

Note: The final rate for the animation will be less than in the preview.

Animated Special Item Details

Each of the items below has a SMALL chance for an animation to go off if you use a skill. We need your help to balance out just how often the animations should appear. Please let us know your feedback on Twitter, Facebook, and the forum!

Each item ALSO has an extra special; some make you do more damage against human, chaos, or elemental enemies. The Gilded Pigasus pet lets you do more damage against ALL enemies!

Find the following AC gear in tonight's shop:

Lavamancer Blaster armor (Meteor Shower)

Inferno Shower Daggers (Meteor Shower)

Flowing Lava Locks (Meteor Shower)

Molten Headgear (Meteor Shower)

Mighty Molten Mace (Meteor Shower)

Pyroclastic Cloud Cape (Smokebomb)

Sepulchure's Undead Blade (Shadowblast)*

OMGZilla pet (Noxious Breath)*

Grimblight of Destiny (Shadowblast)*

Falconlord Helm (Whirlwind)*

Legends can access the X-Zilla gear in tonight's shop:

X-Zilla armor (Noxious Breath)

Kaiju Morph Helm (Noxious Breath)

X-Treme X-Zilla Tail (Whirlwind)

Kaiju's Crusher Blade (Ice Comet)

OMZilla Battle Pet (Noxious Breath)*

Gilded Pigasus Pet (Pigs Fly)

ALL players can complete the Re-animation Quest to unlock these items:

Malcoda Necroment polearm (Shadowburst)

The Flatulator Mace (Noxious Gas)**

El Gasso Mace (Noxious Breath)

* If you already own these items, they will automatically have the animations when tonight's release goes live. You do not need to buy them again! In the future, more already-released gear will receive animations, too!

** For fun, Yorumi reversed the direction of the OMGZilla's Noxious Breath attack and, well... as a team, we have the sense of humor of a ten year old boy. We love us some fart jokes!

Sepulchure's Blade Will Blast Shadows This Friday!

If you've already purchased Sepulchure's Undead Blade from Valencia's Treasure Shop (in the /museum map) or from Vayle (in her Doomwood shop), then you're in for a dark and destructive treat this Friday! When the animated item functionality releases, Sepulchure's Blade will automatically receive the Shadowblast animation shown below, along with a bonus against human opponents.*

Who will see the animations?

Yesterday, we said that the animations would only appear to the item owner. But after today, Yorumi says that we should be able to make the animations appear to EVERYONE!

That is really cool.

We are going to need a way for people to turn off item animations if they do not want to see them.

We are going to need your help adjusting how often the animations appear. (Right now, they are going to go off a little more often than a rank 10 passive, but we will change that if needed)

Get Ready for a Crash Landing

Back in the outskirts of Greenguard Forest at /join dwakel, an age old battle of alien invaders vs natural resources is taking place. After crash landing their experimental ship, a dwakel colony made its mission to rebuild their craft, using any and ALL resources necessary. Unless you want the wrath of Captain Lore’s army of tree-huggers upon you, it’s time to make sure these invaders leave the land with its resources intact.

Inspector or Collector

With the forest on the verge of environmental collapse, it’s time for a radioactive, machinery filled scavenger hunt. Taravya has a grocery list full of items that might turn this overcooked situation sunny side up:

8 Chunks Quadrolithium

4 Dam Balloons

6 Bumper Bolts

1 Alien Butt-Kicking Attitude

Mix all these ingredients together and this forest may be safe from toxic cesspool-dom yet.

What’s All This For?

Quadrolithium like Crystallized Dragon’s Breath is an essential, nearly inexhaustible component for powering spacecraft. While inexhaustible, it’s far from clean energy. One shard of radioactive Quadroithium is enough to poison a horc if handled improperly.

Dwakels often replenish their mana from pure water. Environmentalists be wary, however, as every mana point replenished is another water drop lost. To keep the streams from running dry, dam balloons are a must to block dwakels from their favorite water sources.

After the environment is saved, it’s time for some sabotage. By taking the bumper bolts from Dwakel suits, their armor will collapse in on themselves, effectively turning a killing machine into a toy tricycle.

Fully Charged Situation

Now that the scavenger hunt has come to a close, it’s time to get a good look at the crashed craft. After obstructing their resources, this dwakel colony should be all but surrendering. However, the mighty Mithril Man is still standing. As their ship’s last line of defense, this monster keeps going and going, having the strength of a hardcore-hare on steroids. Better drum up all your courage hero, this battle will be a shocking experience for all involved. If you can power down this monster in a two round brawl, then the Piston-Driven Polearm and spacecraft secrets are yours.

Silicon DIE-Oxide

Seems like these dwakels still have one more trick up their mechanical sleeves. Hidden behind a set of broilers, this monster would be a Stark naked wimp, if not for its iron plated suit that’s dying to make you feel like a puny god.This is the last threat to face before the dwakels can be beaten to the peace table. If you can take this machine down, then a multitude of mechanical riches await.

A Class Act

Beyond steampunk-era alien tech, defeating the ProtoSarium will earn you the Legend’s only ProtoSarium Class. Taravya will also trade you the Rustbucket Class, for a few spare ProtoSarium parts if you aren’t yet Legend level. As a jack of all trades, a Rustbucket or ProtoSarium needs a bit of every stat to get going in a fight. Will you equip these classes and be a lightning level force on the battlefield or just left in the junkyard?

Flying to Freedom

Before you go saying Deja Moo, thinking you’ve heard this bull before, it may be in the forest’s best interest to fix the dwakel colony’s ship. If you can get these invaders out of Greenguard environmentaly unschathed, maybe the enivornmentals will leaf all this alone. Good luck fixing that technology though, as who knows what some of it does?

Old Ain’t Always Bad

While this release is one of AQW’s oldest, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth checking out. Get to it heros and keep Greenguard Forest safe from dwakel destruction! As always post any comments on the forums and tweet me @ACWOAE with future throwback suggestions. Now that schools out, hopefully I’ll be able to focus on AQW and the terrors of Drakath, rather than the terrors of homework!

Huge thank you to Lafbael, Akeem, Rock Lea, and Odin Fatalis for sending in rocking screenshots for this throwback! Who knows, maybe you’ll be featured in the next one? Watch twitter to see when it’s time for the next set of photos!

Coming This Friday

Testers are going to start helping us lock down how often the animations will appear tomorrow, but once this goes live on Friday, we are going to need YOU guys to give us feedback, too. We will ALSO sell non-animated versions of the shop gear, for those who do not want animations attached.

Friday's shop will contain the following animated items:

Lavamancer armor

Lavamancer Orb Mace

Lavamancer Orb Daggers

Lavamancer Helm

Lavamancer Smoke Cape

X-zilla armor*

X-zilla helm

X-zilla tail

X-zilla sword

Each of the above items will ALSO have non-animated versions, as mentioned above. A quest will also drop an animated weapon (with bonus) for ALL players! More information on that later this week!

...For Memorial Day 2014

For those of us living in the US, this coming Monday is Memorial Day - a day to remember those who have died while serving in our armed forces. As a token of our rememberance - and a gift to you - Dage has created a special, limited-time flag symbolizing our fallen warriors.

Only Available Monday, May 26

The Memorial Flag 2014 cape will be available on Monday only (starting at midnight server time) in the OMGZilla shop in the game menu for 0 gold - he may be a monster but he's also a protector, so he loves soldiers as much as we do. Login tomorrow to get it - on Tuesday it'll be gone. Available for Legends and free players alike.

Battle On For MORE Rewards All Weekend!

Login any time ALL WEEKEND on ANY server to get DOUBLE Gold, Class Points, Rep, or EXP from any battle or quest! These boosts stack with the AC Boosts available in the Class Shop in Battleon, so if you needed help leveling up, this weekend is the to play!

Get in there and Battle On!

OMG-Zilla?! GIANT Kaiju Pet now Available!

The AQW team said they had something BIG planned for while I was on vacation, but I didn't expect THIS! If you want to crush your enemies (and look like an enormous hero while doing it), you should check out the shop in your game menu. Cysero's got more details in his Design Notes!

Chaos in the Lab!

When I told Artix I was going to be gone for a week, he said "Have a great trip! Be scared of what we do while you are gone! *big grin*" ... And he was right! From what I hear, you guys have had a HUGE week full of Chaos! (I am not surprised!)

Have a blast playing Runester333's awesomely chaotic release! I am going to go check it out now, then go start training because while I was on vacation (AFTER we found the beast below)...

Flying giant turtle skeleton is happy to eat you!

Rolith and I raced an antelope across the grasslands... and LOST. You know what THAT means: training montage and a victory soundtrack... then a rematch! But first, time to play this weekend's release!

I Barely Know What's Going On!

Seems like forever since I've gotten to write a Design Notes for you good folks. To clear up a little confusion, I'm still NOT working on AQW, not even filling in for Alina this week. All I've been asked to do is write the Design Notes om Monday and Friday this week, so that is what I'm doing. However, since I get the privilege of writing a Design Notes post then I want it to be useful and informative. With that in mind, here's a release status notification which I will update when the release is released. updated with the release went live.

RELEASE STATUS: IT'S READY. GO LOG IN ALREADY.

So, let's talk about the release. If you have been reading the DNs this week then you know that your fellow Player Runester333 was one of the winners of our Player Release Contest.

This hombre has concocted an adventure in a chaorrupted version of the AE Secret Underground Lab, where I currently sit. This release also features a rare shop, a merge shop and more than a few new items dropping off the monsters!

C'mon Cy, you can do better than that. These people want to know prices and tags!

I do hope that you have seeing what we could do with the ideas from one of your fellow players. Enjoy it!

Or else.

OMGZILLA! RUN!

We're all big fan of kaiju around here so needless to say that we HAD to make this pet. He's ENORMOUS and he has personal boundary issues.

Dude. Back up a little. Your breath smells like a sleeping bag filled with electrocuted dolphins.

Obviously, this little cutie pie is going rare but I can't get a date out of anyone yet so if you want it, I suggest buying it as soon as you're able. You will be able to buy him from a shop in the Game Menu.

Oh but he's not done yet! Both versions of zardface come with SIX quests for his new owner. Each of the quests (which all look pretty tough. Not as tough as I'd make them but still...) give a nice chunk of gold and XP but you also have a chance of getting a SPECIAL QUEST ITEM!

X-TREME PEOPLE WHO HAVE POWERS ABOVE AND BEYOND THAT WHICH GENETICALLY TYPICAL PEOPLE POSSESS WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE REFERENCES TO A RECENTLY RELEASED MOVIE ABOUT A POPULAR COMIC BOOK FRANCHISE EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE WHO WAS THE RESULT OF A SUPER SOLDIER EXPERIMENT!

That shop went live in the middle of the week but if you're one of those people who only check in on Friday for the release then you didn't know that. Like I always say, "If I ain't seen it then it's new to me!"

DOUBLE XP WEEKEND!

It's a three day weekend for many of here in the United States, so the AQW team has decided to give DOUBLE XP all three days! Have fun and be safe.

On a personal note, Monday is Memorial Day. It's a day when we, as a nation, remember the brave men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. Everyone has their own opinion about how our nation uses its military might but one thing upon which we can all agree is that it takes undeniable courage to risk and lose your life doing what you see as your duty. I'd like to thank all of those who have answered the call to serve and offer my sincere sympathy to those who have lost friends, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers or children in that noble pursuit.

What's That Thundering, Stomping Noise?

We just got the OMGZilla file back from guest animator Korin, and I really wanted to show you guys how cool it is! For those of you who are thinking of getting the battle pet version, here's one of his attacks:

Stand BEHIND OMGZilla. Not in front.

Even if you're not getting the battlepet version of this big guy, you can still enjoy the look of blue, glowing, radioactive monster spines by completing his quests. The Kaiju Slayer sword, designed by Blade and pictured below, has a chance to drop as a reward from one of OMGZilla's quests:

Glowy.

Don't forget! The Hyperspace Mutant merge gear also went live yesterday!

The Eye of Chaos Sees All

An ill-wind blows through Lore, and Chaos is on the rise! Seek throughout Lore for the special item that will reveal a secret about the upcoming Lords of Chaos Finale! Changes are coming - whether they be good or bad remains to be seen.

It's watching you.

We've added a special limited-time drop to the Chaos Dragon in /castleroof - the Cry of Chaos axe! Slay the dragon for a chance to get the axe. Hold onto it, and sometime next week, its in-game description will change to reveal a secret about the upcoming chaos finale. Talk to Beleen in Battleon to start the hunt!

Thank you so much for your continued love & support for all Artix Entertainment games. For the past 11 years, Artix has strived to produce the best free MMOs and RPGs in the whole world, and we could NOT have gotten this far without YOU!

The second ‘Design a Release Contest’ winner unleashes Chaos upon the AQWorld this Friday!

Last week, you and your fellow heroes dominated the first-ever player-created release, picked from hundreds of submissions in the Design a Release contest. Thousands of heroes banded together to take down the foulest fowl of all: the Cockatrice, designed by fellow player Alastair Q!

And come Friday, May 23, at sundown, it will be time for Runester333 to shine!

Spoiler Alert: Chaos Consumes the Secret Underground Lab…

AdventureQuest Worlds, a land full of arcane magics and tangible chaos, is the brainchild of the tireless mods and programmers who have poured their ideas into it. Unfortunately, they underestimated the true power of the chaos that they created, and the Chaorruption has leaked into the underground lab.

After infecting the programmers, it downloaded their deepest thoughts into the game, creating the Chaorrupted lab.

When Beleen’s dream world became a reality during the Valentine’s Day event, no one thought much of it—it was just another update right? WRONG! Programmer after programmer, all of the AQW team have had their consciousness hacked by the game they created and watched as their own personalities formed new dreamworlds throughout the land of lore (at least it saved some time on programming!).

As the team watched, more and more of their ideas poured into these new worlds, and then it happened. The chaos managed to pull the programmers themselves into the game and Chaorrupted them. With the chaos now more powerful than ever and no programmers to give the players a way to stop it time is running out to save the world of lore from complete chaos.

Can the players band together to save their favorite mods and save the game they love before it is plunged into complete purple havoc?

Who is Runester333?

At the dawn of the plane of Lore, the great mods invited adventurers from other forms of the world, ever so similar but somehow so very different, to inhabit this new realm: AdventureQuest Worlds. The mods granted these heroes a taste of adventure that the adventurers couldn't resist.

Not long after, the mods formed the chaos to see what it would do. No one was prepared for what happened next, and since then, Runester333 has been travelling through Lore offering what help he can in subduing this ghastly incorporeal purple entity.

Having no true form of its own, it has been Chaorrupting all of the mods’ original creations into new, abhorrent, yet somehow awesome, creations. Runester stands ever ready, waiting for Chaos’s next move, and his next chance to advance the fight against it. In this penultimate hour, Runester has allied himself with new adventurers throughout Lore, readying himself for Chaos’s final stand!

How did Runester333 start playing AQWorlds?

Runester started his AE adventures after a recommendation from a school friend back in 2005. Per his request, Runester333 signed up and logged in… and he instantly fell in love with the game. It filled a niche in the gaming market that nothing at the time could quite replicate. As AE added game after game, Runester tried his hand at each of them, and is still active in most.

However, AQW is by far his favorite (yay! We think so too!). He started playing back in the Beta phase after seeing the ad on the original AdventureQuest, and has been playing AQW ever since. Runester333 has done his best to collect every character page badge and rare that he could over the years, and has made oh-so-many tough choices on which rares to keep.

“That's the ingenuity in the game—all the chaos that it pumps out!” exclaims Runester333. “There's so many amazing people working to add more and more great ideas, great items, and overall great experiences, it just keeps you coming back every week!”

What inspired Runester333 to enter this contest?

“I had actually posted a longer, vaguer version of this release onto the AQW feature and functionality suggestion forum just a few weeks prior to the contest, thinking that it would never make it up the ranks and dreaming of an event-design contest. To my utter amazement… a few weeks later the announcement for the contest was posted.

“The stars has aligned and my goal was set, so I set to the work of filling in a more specific plot, designing items, quests, dialogue, everything that need to go into it, painstakingly ensuring that it complied with all the contest regulations. Several hours and one massive headache later (I finally really understand how important the coffee machine is to you guys!) I had my outline designed and I posted it.

“I had a very weird dream—one that I vaguely remember—which inspired the original concept on the idea, and from there I tried to model it a little after the first Lionfang event that was my all-time favorite event. And to this day, is the reason that Halloween is my favorite holiday.

“After all these years you guys manage to consistently improve every game, but AQW has that community aspect to it along with the history, the legacy, and the memories… it's just an overall incredible game and the chance to have actually influenced the game like this is a dream come true. I can't wait to see servers full of players enjoying my ideas and knowing that I helped each of them make another memory and hopefully a few will have their "Lionfang event experience," that one release that they will always remember and will be the reason that they log on again every Friday for years to come.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Runester333! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing stories with us!

And come Friday, May 23 at sundown, Runester’s latest story will come to fruition in “The Chaorrupted Lab: Out of the Purple” at www.AQ.com !

Of Giant Monsters and Animated Armors

We've mentioned a few times that we're working on a new "animated items" system, which Yorumi is currently testing. Cysero also mentioned yesterday that this new system might not be ready in time for Friday's release, and as much as we really want you guys to be able to play with these things as soon as possible... it is looking like that might indeed happen a little bit later than Friday. But never fear! We are going to make it up to you!

OMG, That's One Big Lizard.

Here's a special sneak peek at OMGZilla! Designed by Dage, OMGZilla is the biggest pet you've ever seen. Standing even taller than you do, this big guy isn't here to destroy Lore, but to help protect it from other giant monsters. Once you buy him, he'll give you quests to join in him defeating some of the most dangerous nasties around. And if you're lucky, you might be rewarded with some exclusive kaiju-slaying gear!

Everyone will be able to buy the OMGZilla quest pet for 2000AC

We'll also release a special battlepet version for Legends at the same price!

Speaking of Things With Huge Eyes

We've also been working up a nice collection of chaos-themed gear for Runester333's Chaorrupted Lab release. If you've ever wanted to wear the chaos portal on your back, now's your chance:

I Have No Idea What I'm Doing!

Hey guys!

If you have been paying attention for the past year, you know that I haven't been working on he AQW team. I and the rest of the OMNI development team have been hard at work building, releasing and stabilizing Battle Gems (and beginning work on our next top secret project). But Alina has stepped out for the week and she's asked me to take a little time out of the insane OMNI development schedule to write a Design Notes about this week's release.

I really haven't had much time to check in for the last year to see what's going on in AQWorlds so, armed with that knowledge, sit back and enjoy as I talk about things about which I know next to nothing. This should be fun.

So, apparently there was a contest where we let players posess our developers and write their own releases.

Frankly, this sounds awesome. One thing that AE has always wanted has been Player Created Content. I mean, sure, we have the Player Suggestion forums and the AQW team has always tried to incorperate as many of those good ideas as possible into the game, but it's a slow process and people don't often get as much credit as they would like. This way still insanely slow and really only lets one person at a time show off their creativity but it's a real step in the right direction.

I REALLY want to add more options for Player Created Content in some of our next new games. Something that lets you draw and upload your own armors and import them directly into the game. Maybe sell them on some kind of markletplace for in-game currency like ACs. There are a lot of problems to solve before that can ever happen but it would be SO cool, right? But that's off topic.

What was I writing about?

OH! So, there's this player named Runester333 and whomever was judging the Make Us Do Your Work For You contest thought that his/her idea sounded like a really interesting release. After reading ahead I have to agree.

The basic idea behind the release is that after Beleen's dream world leaked into the world of AQW last Heroes Heart Day (That happened? Reading that right off the release pitch), she left a crack open and ALL of the other developers' thoughts and ideas began flooding into the game world until it reached a critical mass and all of these conflicting ideas collapsed into a kind of Chaotic singularity that actually pulled the AQW devs into and trapped them in a Chaotic version of the Secret Ungerground Lab.

Here's an early screenie of the Chaos Lab as done by J6. Note that the AE Dragon has been replaced by the Chaos Eye. I particularly like the upside down doors.

Cool, right? I mean, if it were going to happen, that's how it would go. Chaos born from the conflicting hyperactive imaginations of some of the most idea-driven people that I've ever known.

This also has something to do with the Mirror Realm. I'm not sure what. OK I just read last week's Design Notes so I guess this is a continuation of Alastair Q's release? Maybe? Oh, nevermind, Memet just told me that the Mirror Realm stuff is not happening and this is a stand-alone release. Just pretend that part never happened.

So, just a Chaorrupted version of the Lab. Got it? Good.

The release will also, of course, have some cool gear coming out of it. OH COOL! There's a Chaorrupted Cysero armor coming I guess. Neat. And some weapons and uh.. capes, helms and a pet.

If I had pictures of that stuff, I'd preview that for you. But I dont.

OK, Sounds fun. What else?

Let's see. Looks like some kind of shop riffing off the new X-Men movie. Can I say X-men? I'm told that I cannot, for legal reasons, say that. Let's say the new movie about muta... I can't say mutant? Some superher... I can't say that word either. This is like a nightmare game of Taboo. OK, You can do this Cysero.

There is a shop that has nothing to do with a new movie about some... people... who have... genetic abnormalities... that give them some... powerful... skills? Anyway, this shop will be getting some more stuff this week (starting today? Is that right?).

I pointed out to Alina that the Red Skull was actually the result of a Nazi super-soldier experiment and not one of the genetically abnormal persons but she just... OK, I'm being told that I also cannot say Red Skull.

GuildLauch Stuff!

Apparently, there is a GuildLaunch badge and shop with unique items also coming later this week. I'm not sure if the badge is a character page badge or not but if it's not then I'll just go ahead and suggest that it should be cause that's the first place that a lot of you will go.

Animated Item Alpha Test

It also looks like Yorumi is working on some sort of new kind of items that call special animations under different conditions. I don't think that the system is ready and I'm almost certain that these animations are just graphic, and cause no damage, debuff or buff. Yorumi says that this MIGHT NOT be ready by Friday and if it is, it's an Alpha Test so don't expect wonders upon wonders.

Still, that sounds pretty cool.

*sound of papers shuffling*

And it looks like that's all that I've got. If anything that I have said is terribly inaccurate or just flat-out-wrong then I'm sorry. I did warn you that I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Take on the Fell Beast in the Dark Dungeon

Return to the Mirror Realm this weekend to help Mirror Drakath! He has a VERY important quest for you - a deadly creature has stolen an Egg he believes contains the 13th Beast of Order. If you do not get that back, we don't know WHAT will happen to the Mirror Realm... or our own!

Time to take the cockatrice DOWN!

Head into these mostly-abandoned ruins in the Mirror Realm when you /join darkdungeon. Talk to Mirror Drakath to begin your adventure, co-designed by Alastair Q! Complete quests to earn merge items for the Fell Beast Rewards shop, and take on the Cockatrice for a chance to get all six reward drops!

Release Built With Alastair Q, Contest Winner

Alastair Q (you can read about him here!) is a long-time AQW player and one of the winner's of our recent "Design an AQW Release" contest! He submitted the concept and design for tonight's release, and then worked with the team to finalize the writing and art direction. He is truly a superbly creative individual, and working with him was a blast!

Alastair Q, the entire AQW team salutes you!

Dragon Emperor Tier Sets are live

Take command of the dragons when you unlock the Dragon Commander, Champion, or Emperor setsin our new Tier package! (Each item is fully color-customizable, too!) Find out all the details in the Design Notes post here!

DragonFlight's Reach Evolution

Find the DragonFlight's Reach in the DragonPlane Rares shop in your game menu to get your own dragonspirit blade! It has assumed its final form... and when I get back from vacation, I will add a shop onto the blade to allow anyone who has it to get both previous versions of the weapon! Arklen did an AMAZING job with the animation, and Blade's weapon art is fantastic!

X-Treme Hero Mutant Merge Shop

The Gold Galactic Shard, Sapphire Hyper Crystal, and X-Ray Gem are now in the X-Treme Mutant Merge Shop! You can find Tempest in Battleon (just walk north) to get the 2nd merge item to unlock the X-Treme Hero shops this coming Wednesday!

Next week in AQWorlds

I am heading off to vacation among the buffalo, rattlesnakes, and bald eagles! While i am away, the team is going to be pushing hard on both the Summer of Chaos events AND Runester333's "The Chaorrupted Lab" release!*

Yorumi will be working on the animated item specials, and Artix will stop by to say hi and see how you all are doing, too... because you can't keep a Good Paladin away from a Chaorrupted game for too long! /cheer! See you all in a week!

* This is a fantastic release, designed by Runester333 and polished up by Korin!

More Fortune Tickets being awarded Saturday night!

We always like to give more than we receive... but it turns out that giving away almost 1 MILLION Fortune Tickets* is almost more than our game can handle!

Yorumi spent part of today rewriting how we award those to make them hurt the game less. (You should have heard the server hamsters groaning as their wheels spun!)

He said that, starting tomorrow night at midnight, the new awarding process will go into effect, and people will start getting the tickets faster.

Why we did this, and why it's taking longer

One of our long-time fans made a suggestion that makes a lot of sense: "You should wait to announce things like this; that way, you won't have so many questions and complaints." (As long as that doesn't mean you guys miss out on freebies, that is definitely the better way to do it.)

Here is our answer to that very understandable idea:

If we hadn't announced this ahead of time, we would have had a tidal wave of (very reasonable but upset) feedback saying if people had spinning the Wheel in the last month would qualify them to get spin tickets, they would have used their free spin.

The purpose of giving away the free tickets was to do something nice for as many of our heroes as possible. Though it is taking longer than we'd hoped to get the free spins out to everyone, I'd rather it longer, but have more people get the free spins. This is the kind of gift we want to share to as many heroes as we can!

* 3 free Fortune Tickets each to 600,000 players is a LOT for a room full of server hamsters to handle!

Unlock exclusive gear when you support AQWorlds!

In the world of Lore, one thing is always true: it is always a good time for MORE dragons!* For the next package in our Fantasy Hero trilogy, we asked Dage to take inspiration from the much-beloved (or reviled, if you're a fan of the North) dragon-commanding rulers in the Game of Thrones series to create an entirely-color customizable new set.**

How many lands will YOU conquer?

* I think that is true no matter where you go or what you do!** Though our artists take inspiration from movie, TV, novels, and the world around them, they always put their own spin on it. (That's what artists do, and ours are fantastic!)

Dragon Emperor Limited Time Upgrade Bonus

Unlock the Dragon Emperor gear when you upgrade or buy AdventureCoins! EVERY upgrade bought in June will unlock the Shadow Warlock set at the end of the month!

Get all 12 Dragon Emperor items with a 12 month upgrade

Get 7 Dragon Champion items with a 6 month upgrade or 12000 ACs

Get 4 Dragon Commander items with a 3 month upgrade or 5000 ACs

Why Become a Dragon Emperor?

When you choose one of the Dragon Emperor tiers, you're supporting AQWorlds directly, and letting us continue to create new releases, write more storylines, and making sure anyone who wants to can join in the battles alongside you!

The dragons are yours to command!

Fantasy Hero Special Pass

Turn your fantasy into reality with the Fantasy Heroes Package Pass! Get everything listed below for only $59.95—a value of $180.00!

Correction: The design notes previously stated the Wolfhound Warrior set would also be available when purchasing the Dragon Emperor. That was an error; the Wolfhound Warrior gear will only be available after 12:01 AM on May 16th if you purchase a Fantasy Hero package pass.

Get three FREE Spins on the Wheel of Doom!

If you've spun the Wheel at ALL in the last month, later today you'll get three free spins on the Wheel of Doom or Destiny, so if you're saving up your fortune potions for any of the merge shop gear, this is the freebie for you!

The Carnival of Fortune is waiting for you!

Tonight: Dragon Emperor Tier Sets Arrive!

Unlock all 12 items in the color-customizable Dragon Emperor set with the 12 month upgrade package starting this Friday, May 16th, at 12:01 AM server time, or choose from the 6 month upgrade, 3 month upgrade, 5000 AdventureCoin, or 12000 AdventureCoin packages for selected items from the set!

As we continue introducing new tier packages, it's time for the following packages to leave. The Timedragon Warrior tier set, Wolfhound Warrior tier set, and Golden Fury set will leave at 12:01 AM tomorrow:

Tomorrow: Return to the Mirror Realm!

Mirror Drakath has a VERY important quest for you - a deadly creature has stolen the Egg he believes contains the 13th Beast of Order. If you do not get that back, we don't know WHAT will happen to the Mirror Realm... or our own!

Next Week: Animated Armors and Item Beta Test!

Yorumi has been working on several projects in among all the other things we ask of him, and two of those are:

Adding projectile firing to guns/bows (coming this summer during the Chaos wars)

Attaching animations and damage to armors and items

With this system, we can attach animations to any item in the game (including older gear). The plan right now is for the animations to only appear to you (to reduce strain on the servers), to not happen every time, and for some of the gear to get a damage boost to ANYTHING you are battling (PVP fans, you ready for this?)!

Current animations available are:

Shadowburst

Meteor Shower

Whirlwind

Ice Comet

Pigs Fly

Fireworks

Psi Burst

Moglin Wrecking Ball

Fishsplosion

Ninja Smokebomb

We're going to ask you guys to help us test this next week so we can identify any issues before releasing this all-out. We will have AC, Legend, and regular gear that you can either buy in a shop or farm to unlock.

Memorial Day Weekend Server-wide Boosts!

Summer is almost here... and so is Memorial Day! After you're done picnicing and celebrating with family and friends, head into AQWorlds for more Rep, Gold, Class Points, AND EXP on ALL servers ALL weekend long!

We've Got X-Treme Gear for Marvelous Heroes!

It's time to save the world. AGAIN! But this time, we're going to take you one step beyond the human hero you are now. We're going to make you... X-TREME! Starting tonight, log in and talk to Tempest in Battleon to begin collecting the super-charged merge items that will turn you into the hero you've always dreamed of becoming!

Hyperspace Mutants are X-Treme Heroes

How to become a Hyperspace Mutant

It can be hard work to become an X-treme Hero, unless you're just born that way. But since so many of us aren't, we asked Lim to engineer a way to MAKE you X-Treme! Just follow the steps below:

Log into AQWorlds on the following dates and pick up your x-treme merge items! Keep them until May 21st, when you can turn them into an OMNI item to unlock a shop full of gear!

Once you've got all four merge items for your shop, combine them to create the Omni Shard, Hyperspace Shard, or Gamma Gem to merge shop.

Control the storms!

You CAN collect ALL of the shards, gems, and crystals if you want ALL the power... but I don't know if Lore can handle that much mutant in one Hero. (Let's find out!!!) The merge items will NOT disappear when a new one is added, so if you miss one or two, don't worry!

Galactic Shop Gear

Collect the Galactic Shards to create the Omni Shard and unlock the Galactic Mutant gear! Each shard costs 250 ACs.

Black Galactic Shard: available Wednesday, May 14th

Gold Galactic Shard: available Friday, May 16th

Silver Galactic Shard: available Monday, May 19th

Purple Galactic Shard: available Wednesday, May 21th

Time for some divine intervention!

Merge the Galactic Shards to create the Omni Shard and unlock the following gear:

Or you can make sure your email address is up-to-date so you can receive our emails—just access your Account Manger here, log in, and click Change Email to see your current email address, and then change it if need be!

Do you prefer seeing our new weekly releases as an email, on the Design Notes, on the Home Page, on Facebook, or…. somewhere else? Let me hear your thoughts on my Twitter!

The ‘Design a Release Contest’ winner will unleash his diabolical creation this Friday in AdventureQuest Worlds!

A few weeks ago, AQWorlds hosted our first ever “Design a Release Contest,” where 1 grand prize winner would get to see their ideas come to life in a brand new in-game weekly release.

But there’s a problem: you guys and gals are just too darn good at storytelling. So we choose 2 grand prize winners: Alastair Q, and Runester333!

This Friday at sundown, you will be making history alongside AdventureQuest Worlds, as you and your fellow heroes embark upon our first-ever player-created weekly release, “The Fell Beast” by Alastair Q!

Spoiler Alert: Gaze into the Mirror Realm…

Once the twisted playground of a foul Warlock, the forces of Order at last razed this evil construction to the ground at the zenith of the Great War against the forces of Alteon. Only the spirits of the fallen lurk here... along with the cursed Warlock's detestable minions.

Though the war is over in the Mirror Realm, darkness still broods in the heart of King Alteon the Imbalanced's accursed realm. A foul beast known only as a harbinger of disease and rot, the Cockatrice, runs amok without master or influence, ready to strike at the armies of the Champion of Order, Mirror Drakath.

For a while, the beast was trouble enough, carrying intelligence unlike its brethren, but now, events have taken a turn for the worst. Carrying still a semblance of its master's malevolence within, the Cockatrice has stolen from Mirror Drakath and his forces the most vital prize in the Mirror Realm; the Egg containing the developing 13th Beast of Order.

Hiding in the ruins of the Dark Warlock's Dungeon, the beast guards its prize, and you and Mirror Drakath must first locate this foul creature.

First, you will be heading to Battleoff and Brightfall to question those there as to the beast's whereabouts, before heading into the dark dungeon with Mirror Drakath and facing the hordes of undead who make their home there, all before slaying the fell Cockatrice once and for all!

Unless you are able to defeat the beast and keep the Egg intact, the realms will be thrown out of balance, allowing Chaos its final victory in your world and those beyond!

Who is Alastair Q?

Alastair Q is the sort of good-hearted hero who helps the helpless and defends the defenseless, all without expecting a reward from them—the true reward is the satisfaction gained from making someone's life better.

Before falling down a mountain and travelling down the path against Chaos, Alastair Q was simply a mercenary aligned with Good. If there was a job that needed doing, he did, but only if his moral principles would not be violated as a result.

As Sepulchure's forces marched closer to Swordhaven, Alastair took an oath upon himself to protect the realm he loved and to vanquish—or at least slow the process of the Undead, for what mortal can face a Doomknight of the shadow? After the climactic battle in Swordhaven and the subsequent Chaorruption of King Alteon, Alastair swore to do whatever it takes in order to defeat Drakath, all without breaking his morals.

Now, Alastair is more of a lone gun. Even though he will team up when needed, most of the time he's riding solo in his adventures across Lore, gaining the respect of all factions affected by Chaos so as to have the full might of Lore's armies behind him when marching to bring an end to Chaos on Lore.

How did Alastair start playing AQWorlds?

Originally, Alastair was playing the original AdventureQuest back in 2008. He slayed hundreds of foul beasts until he saw an advertisement for AQW, and he thought he may as well go and try it out.

Alastair did, and since 2009, he hasn’t stopped playing!

“I can't really describe what I enjoy about AQW - the beautiful background art, the music (especially in the newer areas), there are just too many details to pin-point.

“If there is anything I love especially, it is the wide range of items available for customization, allowing me to make my character the way I want him to be, without having to worry about what combination of items will be best for combat and instead, being able to enjoy the game, as was intended.”

What inspired Alastair to enter the contest:

“For me, the contest was a means to create a nice, standalone release which connected to the Chaos Saga, which players could enjoy and play through.

"My primary reason for choosing to enter was to contribute to AQW's canon - to form a part of AQW history and play a role, no matter how small, in adding to in-game lore.

“The second reason would have to be the Cockatrice itself - a very unique beast which rather surprisingly, was not yet present in AQW. There I saw my niche, and built my release around the monster whilst still attempting to retain that blend of humor and seriousness that makes AQW so appealing each and every week.

“The final reason includes the Mirror Realm. All of the other area choices were each appealing in their own way - but the Mirror Realm is perhaps the least unexplored of their own, and being a mirror image of our own Lore, the possibilities for a release were endless! Mirroring the approach of the 13th Lord of Chaos and the end of the Chaos Saga, I pictured things would be going equally well for the forces of Order as they were for Chaos, and so the idea of the 13th Beast of Order came to be.

“Overall, all these reasons are why I chose to join the contest, to try and immortalize an enjoyable release into AQW's canon.

“If I lost, I could at least have the satisfaction of knowing I tried, so I thought I may as well give it a shot. And in the end, is that not what matters - to keep on trying even after loss?”

Such inspiration from an aspiring hero! On behalf of the entire AQWorlds team and all the players who defend the world of Lore, we cannot wait to experience Alastair Q’s release, The Fell Beast, happening this Friday night at www.AQ.com. (Runester333's release will take place within the next few weeks!)

Tonight: A Plague of Dragons Finale!

The mysterious source of the Dragon’s Plague has been identified: Desolich the Eternal has risen once more! As attacks of Chaos increase around Lore, Desolich is taking advantage of the discord to conquer the dragons of Etherstorm once more nm… but THIS time, he plans to meld elemental magic with his newfound necromantic powers!

Can you cure the Dragon Plague?!

If you're all caught up with the storyline so far, /join dragonheart and prepare to cleanse the realm of Desolich's corruption! Make sure you've talked to Drakor in Dragonhame and seen the First Flight cutscene, because the tears will be a-flowin'! (Rolith swears it is just dirt in his eye...)

Things are heating up in the Dragon Plane!

Elementally AWESOME Draconic Gear is Here!

Battle the dracoliches in the DragonHeart to for a chance to get one of 14 reward drops! Grab your friends and take down Desolich's Avatar... and collect the three 1% drops that make up the Dracolich Destroyer set (available for ALL players)!

And don't miss the Dragon Plane Rares shop... Talk to Torgir in Battleon or find it in your game menu! The gear leaves at the end of May, so you've got a couple of weeks to grab what you want!

Reminder: New 1% Drops in the Wheels of Doom/Destiny!

For those of you who didn't catch the DNs last month, the following 1% drops were added to the Wheels of Doom and Destiny!

This Sunday is Mother's Day!

Every Hero's story starts with their mother. This Sunday's the day to celebrate whatever woman (bio-mom, step-mom, aunt, grandma, teacher or neighbor-lady) gives you the advice, reality checks, and hugs you need. Give your ma a hug, then hop in-game and get her something pretty to equip!

Battle Gems on Android, Apple and Facebook!

Now that Battle Gems is on the web we need your help. We are very proud of our little game and it seems like nearly everyone who has played it enjoys it. We think that Battle Gems really has the potential to become a HUGE game in the mobile arena and on the web but, for that ti happen, we need YOUR help.

NOTHING helps a game spread faster than the fans. Word of mouth from the die-hard, serious fans can become a raging fire on the internet as the game is passed from friend to friend. We have a favor to ask from you.

If you've tried the game... if you have enjoyed it... please, share it.

https://apps.facebook.com/217802018249672/

Copy and paste this link everywhere you can think of. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, SnapChat, Tumblr, Instagram... anywhere that you feel comfortable letting YOUR fans know that it's a fun game and they should give it a shot. It is free after all so what do they have to lose?

Can I Still Get Founder?

Why, yes. Yes you can. However, we wanted to leave it up long enough for everyone on every platform to get it and now that Battle Gems has been released on all currently planned platforms the Founder Package will be leaving in a few weeks.

Just tap the UPGRADE button in your Battle Gems OPTIONS screen to buy Founder then use the AQW LINK button that shows up to link it to your AQW account.

Thanks For Helping!

For those of you who have already played the game, who have stuck with us through all the game killing bugs and all of the terrible technical glitches and STILL dropped us a 5 star review in your app store, thank you. We could not have gotten to this very exciting starting point without you guys. We're all very interested to see where we go from here.

The Black Knight Rises

Hidden away in the corner of /join GreenGuardWest presides the mysterious Black Knight’s ghost. Before his light was extinguished, this knight was a terror to behold, constantly hacking and slashing his way through Lore’s innocent. The suit of armor he wore become so corrupted that to this day, it continues the vile actions of its master in the Black Knight’s wake. In death, the Black Knight sees the error of his ways, and pleads that one may stop the villain he’s created. He needs a hero to right the wrongs in his life by collecting pieces of his still rampaging suit so the armored monstrosity can be summoned and defeated once and for all.

Are you Gonna Slay the Knight?

He’s put his heart on the (Round) table asking you to save Lore from his old self. The only question is, are you up to the task? In order to summon his armor for the final battle, suit pieces from each of the four mightiest creatures in Greenguard West are needed. You must retrieve the knight’s

Leg Piece

Chest Piece

Shoulder Piece

Arm Piece

Green with Envy

I sug-chest you look for the armor’s breast plate deep within the heart of the Green Dragon’s lair. As a distant cousin of /join lair Red Dragon, it’s easy to tell that hero crushing runs in the Green Dragon’s bloodline. It will take a lot more than an unplanned charge of Leroy Jenkins to take back the Knight’s armor pieces and loot the dragon’s wrongly earned riches.

He’s Axe-ing for It

When looking for the Black Knight Arm Piece, you could say I'm truly stumped. Seriously, this next monster planted itself deep inside a greenguard tree trunk! Steal back the Black Knight Arm Piece from the Basilisk within and the Black Knight willow you one!

Well, What’s Next?

Who says food can’t fight back? /Join Well proves that some jello is hungrier than you are! The gelatinous glob, Gell Oh No, is ready to guard the Black Knight’s Leg Piece with it’s artificially flavored life. Don’t wiggle out of this fight hero, things are about to get messy.

Eye See You

Whether searching for it’s tree covered portal or typing /join Deathgazer, this medusa-like beast is sure to see you coming. Carrying quite the cold shoulder, beating Deathgazer requires lazer narrow focus, only the determined are able to retrieve the Black Knight Shoulder Piece.

Awaken the Armor

With the four armor pieces collected, the time of summoning has finally come. Using the Black Knight Orb to guide you, talk to the Black Knight and click summon. From here it is up to you to calm the Knight’s deadly armor. Showing no remorse for it’s actions, this is not a fight you want to go in alone. Can you defeat the Black Knight’s armor and set the spirit intertwined with it to rest once more?

What’s in it for me?

The Black Knight’s spirit wouldn’t allow you to walk away with nothing from your good deed. As one of the best gold farming spots in AQW history, this monster drops practically it’s entire wardrobe for you to enjoy. While either serving as a nice addition to your collection or being sold for up 12,500 gold a piece, these drops are worth every second of this quest.

Axe of the Black Knight

Blade of Corruption

Blade of the Dead

Blade of the Wicked

Cruel Axe of Midnight

Cruel Staff of the Fallen

SoulBiter

Staff of the Fallen

With these rewards lying around, your backpack and wallet are going to be as fat as Sir Cumference.

Good Knight Lore

Another Throwback has come and gone, however the adventure is just beginning! It’s time to visit the Black Knight for the first time or farm its drops as before. The fight is never finished hero, and this questline is only a warmup for the chaos lurking on the horizon of upcoming weeks. As always tweet me at https://twitter.com/ACWOAE or comment on the forums with suggestions for an upcoming throwback!

Good for Prizes, Great for Friendships!

Over the last several months, we've held a LOT of contests! We love seeing how excited you guys get, and we love even MORE seeing what you all do when the contests involve creativity. Yesterday, I met both C99 and Armaghan in-game to share the good news! They were both winners in our recent contests!

Dage's Birthday Poster Contest

Back in February, when we were preparing for Dage's Birthday, we said anyone who bought a BladeMaster Class OR earned one using Legion Tokens would be entered into a pool for an exclusive signed and personalized copy of the Legro Inmortuorum poster!

Tendou No Mazo and C99 hanging out!

We had very little luck contacting winners through email (that's why we ask you to make SURE you have access to the email account attached to your AQW account!), so yesterday when I got the contact info of the latest winner and saw he was ONLINE RIGHT THEN(!!!!) I hopped in-game and shared the happy news!

C99: You'll receive your poster (signed by Dage AND Artix!) in a few weeks. Congratulations again!

Dage's Dark Key Mystery Chest

Armaghan's name was drawn from among the lucky heroes who'd received the Dage's Dark Key as a reward drop from the Wheel of Doom! EVERYONE who got the dark key now has a dark and deadly sword from Dage the Evil in their inventory, but Armaghan's prize is still in development: a custom-made weapon just for him from Dage the Evil!

Congratulations, Armaghan!

What did you think of this contest? Would you like to see us do more of these prizes? Include other artists? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter, Facebook, and the forum!

AQW Contests Bring Heroes Together!

Last night I got an email from Runester333, one of the "Design Your Own AQW Release" contest winners, and what he had to say genuinely touched me and the rest of the AQW team! (I think Yorumi, the lab's coldest coder, even melted a bit!)

He had this to say:

Alastair and I... have been talking alot and just started helping each other complete quests and earn char-page badges. I think it'd be cool for the players to see how winning the contest brought two people on opposite sides of the Atlantic who had never even heard of each other before into a great friendship, and the role of AQW in forging friendships that wouldn't be possible without it.

We chose contest winners based on how appealing and interesting we found the entries... but it looks like we also helped a new friendship form! /cheer!

Friday: Hone your battle skills in the Dragon Plane!

As we prepare for the Chaos Saga Finale this summer, we have 3 amazing new releases coming your way! This week, journey to the Dragon Plane and cleanse the Heart of Desolich's corruption, or the dragons of Etherstorm will be destroyed!

Chaos is coming!

This month in AQWorlds:

May 9th: Dragons' Heart: Plague of Dragons

May 16th: Return to the Mirror Realm: The Fell Beast

May 23rd: Secret Underground Lab: Chaos Takes Control

May 30th: Calm Before the Chaos Storm

Why Are You Delaying the Finale?!

That's a good question; we're not! The AQW team has been working on the finale for quite a while as we continued to produce our other weekly releases. We want the 8 week long Summer of Chaos to be the best, most organzied releases (and the most CHAOTIC, of course!) that we've ever done!

We've got so much planned for this summer that it has taken a fair bit of pre-planning: storyline meetings with Artix, working on new and updated art, planning war and boss fight functionality... a LOT going into making a world-shattering saga finale!

Timedragon Warrior and Golden Fury Sets Leaving!

Next Friday, May 16th, the Timedragon Warrior Tier Package AND the Golden Fury 12 Month Upgrade Package sets are leaving for good! We will be adding in the Dragon Emperor set at 12:01 AM Friday morning, too.

Don't space out or you'll miss this gear!

Head into AQWorlds now and find the May 4th (sci-fi/space-themed gear) AND the Cinco de Mayo items in your game menu under the Featured Shops tab! MogWars came to Lore earlier this morning with some of the best parody pets we've done EVER... and deadly laser weapons to defend yourself with against any monsters who would try to take them!

MogWars: The Parody

Monday, May 5th: Last Chance for LQS Gear!

The LAST Limited Quantity Set restocks will happen tomorrow at 8:30 AM and 6:30 PM EST (server time). The LQS page will not leave before Wednesday, May 7th. Any remaining sets still in stock will go permanently rare on Friday, May 9th.

When and Where to Get the Gear.

Not sure what time the shop opens or restocks? Use this timezone converter to find out what time it is in YOUR area!

Head to this webpageand log in with your AQW account to grab your gear!

Remaining Set Restock Times

8:30 AM, May 5th

6:30 PM, May 5th

Captain Rhubarb is putting 4000 Dragon Salvation and 10000 Shadowdragon sets into each of tomorrow's restocks! (#GoodPirate) The AC quantities will remain as-is, so better grab your chance to get these incredible sets!

TWO Releases from TWO Grand Prize Winners!

The "Design an AQW Release" contest has been my FAVORITE contest EVER! There's just one problem... you guys are WAY too good at coming up with stories and the gameplay around them. So we are facing the best problem: too many good entries.

To combat that, we are making the best decision, I think: having TWO grand prize winners, who will both have their releases made in May. (Time to start building!!!)

Congratulations to....

Grand Prize Winners

Alastair Q and Runester333!

Their releases, "The Fell Beast" and "The Chaorrupted Lab" will both be released this month! I will be emailing you both tonight with more information.

Second Place

For the Second Place winners, we ALSO want to make these releases, too! (They are just too good not to!) So if we ever need to put in a one-time release in the coming months, we will pull those releases from the list of 2nd place winners.

In addition to becoming our pool of "OMG WE NEED AN EMERGENCY RELEASE GO GO GO!!!" ideas, each winner receives 2000 ACs if they created their entry on their own, and 1000 ACs if they worked as a team!

Liy010: The Magic Games

Nobeck: Smoke and MirrorMares

Megakyle777: Reflections Rising

Beshin Adin: Kharkaragos and the Tides of Death

Superrpg237: Cysero's New Invention

Arch WarlordX: Sands of the AntiClockwise

Gandolf AQ: Discover the secret Library of Andria

King of the Night: The Frozen Overlord

Flamedragon92: Save the Mystical Mirror Crystal Shard!

Saldrayne: A white dragon egg.. Shall we put it in a box?

Skywee955: Pun-Dead!

Tysonterror: Space Pirates

Jah_Rakal24: The End of the Magic World

Nakor: Dawn of the Celestial Warrior

Dark tech priest: A Thread of Agony

Valvius: To the Spire once more

Ravenhearst24: Waterwizard and the Eternal Gem

Requiem the White: Death's Distress

Solaris of Light: Emotional Void

Winners Circle

You guys are AMAZING, and your contest entries will not be forgotten (who knows, we may even make YOUR idea someday!)! In addition to having the entire Artix Entertainment team /bow down in recognition of their hard work, each winner receives 2000 ACs if they created their entry on their own, and 1000 ACs if they worked as a team!

Above and Beyond Award

For completely creating a proto-type of his release idea in RPG Maker, the "Above and Beyond" award (and 2000 ACs) goes to:

Zadck3: The Resources of the Resilva

To All Contest Entrants

Artix, the AQW team,and I want to say how impressed and honored we are that you ALL put so much effort, thought, and creativity into these release suggestions. We truly are the luckiest gaming community on the internet, and I can honestly say that AQWorlds is a game made for and BY you all.

Thank you for all that you have done in this contest and every day you join us to battle!

Darkness Falls as Undead Dragons Rise in Etherstorm

As more and more dragons fall to this mysterious illness, a new horror is rising! Any dragons slain by the disease return to unlife…as zombies! Work with Artix and Galanoth to find a cure for those affected by the zombie plague, then partner with Warlic to hunt down the disease’s source, because what he’s learned spells destruction for the purity of elemental dragon magic… EVERYWHERE!

Here there be zombies!

Artix, Galanoth, and Warlic, OH MY!

Dragons are dying in Etherstorm... and the ones who haven't been returned to the DragonPlane for purification are rising again as zombies!

Dragon Physiology 101: Zombie Edition

That's not the worst of it - others have disappeared completely! But in the chaos caused by the infections and quarantines, no one has noticed. This is a very VERY bad thing! But before you can investigate THAT, you're going to have to travel around Lore with Artix, Galanoth, and Warlic to seek out the cause of the plague... and if Warlic is right, we are ALL going to be DOOMED!

Slay the Proto-Earth Dracolich for a chance to get the full Dragon Summoner set as reward drops! Just remember, Heroes, when plague zombies rise in Etherstorm this Friday, just remember...

The Limited Quantity Set Previews are Here!

The first-ever Limited Quantity Sets arrive in AQWorlds this Friday night... and earlier today we released previews of more LQS gear! Read the Design Notes to see all the prices, timetables, and quantities!

Sets become available THIS Friday at 6:30 PM EST!

The first-ever Limited Quantity Sets arrive in AQWorlds tonight at 6:30 PM server time! Bookmark the Limited Quantity Set webpage HERE,* and get ready to have your greaves knocked off, because this art will show that where the dragons go, you follow! But will it be to slay them... or save them?!

The Glacier Lord is a pretty cool guy.

When and Where to Get the Gear.

Not sure what time the shop opens or restocks? Use this timezone converter to find out what time it is in YOUR area!

Once 6:30 PM server time hits, head to this webpageand log in with your AQW account (this page is on the AQ.com site, but will NOT be available until 6:30 PM)

Shop Update/Restock Times

6:30 PM Friday, May 2nd

4:30 AM Saturday, May 3rd

2:30 PM Saturday, May 3rd

12:30 AM Sunday, May 4th

10:30 AM Sunday, May 4th

8:30 AM, May 5th

6:30 PM, May 5th

Note 1:Based on player feedback and overwhelming demand, both May 5th restocks will take place as scheduled.

Note 2: The restock amount will always be added to the previous amount of gear. Gear not sold before a restock will remain in the shop.

Glacier Lord Set

Price: 1250 ACs, Quantity: 5000

Glacier Lord Armor

Glacial Horns

Glacial Lord Hood

Wrap of the Frostwyrm

Fridge Edge Blade

Great Blade of Frostclaw

Glacial Daggers of Freezing

Glacier Lord Cowl

Quantities

Initial quantity: 1000

Restock amount: 1000

Lavastorm Lord Set

Price: 1250 ACs, Quantity: 5000

Lavastorm Lord Armor

Lavastorm Horns

Lavastorm Hood

Volcano's Embrace Cloak

Molten Heartpiercer

Lavastorm's Reach Polearm

Lavastorm Cowl

Quantities

Initial quantity: 1000

Restock amount: 1000

Dragon's Salvation Set (Legend-Only)

Price: 50000 gold, Quantity: 15000

The Legend perks just keep coming: if you've EVER upgraded your account, you can buy this set for gold... then go in-game and unlock the 0 AC items. (The items will not require an upgrade to equip.)

Armor set is color-customizable!*

Dragon's Salvation Armor

Dragon's Guard

Silken Cloak of Loyalty

Flared Loyalty Wrap

Bright Dragon Battlepet

Quantities

Initial quantity: 3000

Restock amount: 3000

* A Dark version of this set will be available in next week's Rare shop.

ShadowDragon Gear (All Players)

Price: 75000 gold, Quantity: 30000

Shadow Dragon Pet

ShadowDragon Axe

ShadowDragon Blade

ShadowDragon Polearm

Quantities

Initial quantity: 6000

Restock amount: 6000

How Do Limited Quantity Sets Work?

Limited Quantity Sets will work VERY differently from the way Limited Quantity Shops did in the past, though the core idea - a limited quantity of gear - will remain the same.

Log into a special LQS webpage on AQ.com (not into the game!)

Purchase the set using either ACs or gold

Log into AQW and find your set badge in the Book of Lore (no character page badge attached.)

Get all the items in the badge shop for 0 ACs (yay free storage!)

Actual prices and quantities are listed above.

Amounts will restock throughout the weekend so that everyone gets a fair chance at the gear. (That means we will only release a fraction of the total amount at first.)

Where to Find the Sets

Check the Design Notes, hompage, and upgrade page for the webpage where you can buy the sets! You'll also be able to log into AQW and talk to Khuddar Khamundi, the Black Market Vendor, will return to Battleon with a link to the webpage.